Hidden Enemies
by IvoryMaster
Summary: Sanya is on night patrol as usual until she has an encounter with a very peculiar Neuroi that just might give her a run for her money.


**I do not own Strike Witches or the Halo Franchise. One-shot.**

The glimmering orange-colored sky radiates as the sun sets beyond the Britannian horizon, providing just right amount of light to illuminate the wide-empty hanger orange, housing two very-close individuals.

"Eila, will you be joining me tonight." Sanya Litvyak inquires of her dear friend, Eila Ilmater Juutilainen, who is escorting her towards her Striker Unit, wanting her to be the last person before Sanya heads out on night patrol.

"Oh…." Eila response saddened, looking towards the ground a bit to avoid making direct eye contact with Sanya out of regret for the next words out of her mouth are going to be difficult to say. "I'm sorry. While you were resting, we had to run a lot of maneuvers today, and Sakamoto was extra stern." She explains, directing her gaze towards the hanger's opening and looking towards the horizon, hoping not to see a sadden expression on her dear friend. The very idea of Eila turning down Sanya to accompany her while requested sounds blasphemous—heresy indeed for Eila for having denied her sweet Sanya of such a reasonable request. Her heart aches in just the thought. She wants to kick herself for not for not saving enough energy to be with the Orussian, white-haired girl.

"Ohhh." Sanya mummers, dishearten as she gloomily stares down at the concrete floor as if she has found a newly-placed weight on her shoulders.

"But I'll join you tomorrow! Promise." Eila abruptly shouts, grabbing Sanya's hands in hopes to reassure and comfort the Orussian witch, looking deeply into Sanya's emerald-colored eyes. Eila's worries soon melt away as she personally witnesses a warm, gentle smile take it rightful place upon Sanya's soft lips. Just looking at such an expression causes Eila to blush like a tomato because seeing such a sight on Sanya is reassuring and… cute. Eila vigorously shakes her head to vanquish such indecent thoughts away, though breathing a little heavy.

"Ok." Sanya expresses, breaking Eila out of her train of thought. Although, Sanya would be lying if she isn't a bit worried for Eila. Once she enters her striker, she turns over to Eila, who doesn't seem like herself as a melancholic expression reeks over her about with saddened eyes.

"Eila, is something wrong." Sanya gently asks.

"Huh." Eila murmurs before she shakes her head more vigorously than before." Oh, it… it's nothing. It's just… well today, I have been practicing my tarot card readings—you know, to get better at fortune telling—but ever since this morning, I have always been drawing the Moon card. At first, I didn't think much of it, but after breakfast, I drew a card, and it was the Moon card again. I thought that some danger might be coming, and I was kind of right. Sakamoto really made us work to the point where I almost exhausted all my magic. I thought that was the danger, but I drew one more card after dinner, and again I got the Moon card. Since then, I have this… gnawing feeling, and I don't know what to do about it." Eila explains, clenching her hand tight to help bear her uselessness in unable to decipher what cards are telling to tell her.

Her hands begin to relax as Sanya gracefully glides her own hands over Eila's

"It's fine, Eila. Remember, your predictions aren't always the most accurate, so it could be wrong, so please try to relax." She requests, staring deeply into Eila's eyes out of concern and care for her. Eila could only nod as Sanya once again gives her another one of her smiles. She wants to say more, she really does, but she doesn't want to worry her because if she is worried, then she won't be focus one-hundred percent, and… She doesn't want to think about that. Eila can only watch as Sanya's small, warm hands leave her own as she picks up her Fliegerhammer, slowly picking up speed as she takes off from the hanger, leaving Eila alone, just as nightfall overtakes the sunset. She walks out of the hanger, briefly watching Sanya out in the sky before the mask of darkness cloaks Sanya, truly leaving Eila alone. She wants to believe Sanya, but the feeling stuck in her heart only grows exponentially. Out of desperation, she quickly returns to her room, opening her bedroom drawer, and pulls out her tarot cards. Without thinking, she reaches for the first card on top, but hesitates. However, she overcomes it and draws regardless.

"Again?" she murmurs to herself, dropping her hands to her sides as her right hand holds the Moon card once again.

* * *

Tonight looks beautiful. At least, that is what Sanya thinks as she hovers in place as the glowing moon provides just enough illumination to lighten up the dark skies mixed in with great clouds. Even if she is patrolling for possible Neuroi, the serenity that is present is something that cannot be ignored, even in such a time when humanity has been pushed back all the way to Britannia. These are the best nights for her because the silence with no Neuroi around allows her sing to have a much-needed sense of harmony. The silent skies fill with the sound of Sanya's sweet, tender voice as she begins to sing the song her father wrote for her. It is the only relic of solace that gives Sanya hope that her parents are still somewhere out there, hopefully looking for her. She does this every day, but tonight just feels _different_ for Sanya, and she just needed to sing. This experience could have been better if Eila accompanied her for the night patrol.

Regardless of the situation, Sanya finds solace during this dark night.

She slowly loses herself as she continues to sing and broadcast her song throughout the Britannish Channel. However, just as fast as she lost herself in her serenity, she abruptly opens her eyes, turning her attention in the direction towards Gallia, her Magic Antennas flaring up.

 _Two Neuroi…_ she confirms, surprised by the quantity of the approaching invaders. Normally, Neuroi only come individually during the night, so she never expected a situation where they would send Neuroi in pairs. This would have been a perfect time to have Eila accompanying her.

She begins climbing into the skies as these Neuroi are about 6 kilometers above sea level, attempting to use the cover of the clouds to hide themselves, but there is no hiding from Sanya's Magic Antenna. With two Neuroi fast approaching, and with no indications that they have spotted her—which is weird considering that the Neuroi would be the ones firing first at her as if they are preoccupied with something else to not have noticed her-Sanya aims her Fleigerhammer in the direction of the Neuroi, hoping to pull off a sneak attack on the Neuroi to help even the odds. They just need to draw closer enough so her first rocket would hit, or at least within the blast radius. Just as she is about to pull the trigger, her Magic Antenna picks up on a new development.

There is now only one target.

 _Where is the other Neuroi?_ The Neuroi couldn't just disappeared so suddenly unless it is out of her Magic Antenna's range, but they are already deep within her range, so if the Neuroi did turn around, then she would know about it. The only other logic that seems to fit this disappearance is if the second Neuroi was destroyed, only giving life to a subsequent question: what or who destroyed it? Sanya attempts to confirm she and the Neuroi are the only ones in the sky. Even after extending her range, Sanya confirms she and the remaining Neuroi are the only ones in the sky, so that only leaves the most unlikely conclusion…

The remaining Neuroi destroyed the other Neuroi.

But why would it do that? Aren't the Neuroi on the same team? At this point, it doesn't matter for the remaining Neuroi is fast approaching towards her, considerably faster than any other Neuroi previously encountered. Before she loses the element of surprise, Sanya takes aim in the Neuroi's direction, letting it come closer and closer until just the right moment. She takes in one deep breath and pulls the trigger, sending one rocket flying, punching a hole through the clouds until it is out of her sight. A few moments pass and a distant explosion echoes, but the real surprise comes immediately as Sanya instinctively raises her magic shield as bullets punch holes through the clouds and slam and imbed themselves into her shield.

 _Bullets?_ but after taking a closer look, Sanya finds that what is imbedded in her shield are not bullets, but rather shards; glowing, orange shards radiating immense amounts of heat that she can physically feel, rather shocked that something as small as a large caliber bullet can radiate scorching amounts of heat. She watches as the fiery-orange shards quickly cool off into a black-ash colored crystals before she lowering her shield and watching the shards fall towards the channel. The Neuroi is still on route with its course, but she has yet to gain any visual. She takes aim once more but is force to replace her shield once more for four glowing "projectiles" burst through the clouds, slamming into her shield and exploding. The explosions quite the punch, so much so that Sanya's magic is drained more, more so when a regular Neuroi beam slams into it. She needs distance and fast. She focuses her magic into her Striker and begins climbing rapidly. The Neuroi follows.

 _What is happening?_ Sanya has never come across a Neuroi with weaponry other than its beams. Could this be perhaps another Neuroi specially designed to take her down? One that fires super-heated orange shard and fires explosive, pulsing orange projectiles? That could be a possibility seeing that it has already happened, but what about earlier when there were two Neuroi. Two of them could have given her a run for her money, but seeing that there is no other way to explain the other Neuroi's disappearance, Sanya is assuming the current Neuroi destroyed its ally. She soon pops out of the clouds, greeted by clear night skies with the moon still glimmering as ever, but she continues to climb. She soon turns around and looks down, aiming her Fliegerhammer in the general direction the Neuroi is coming from. She waits and waits until _something_ unveils itself from the clouds.

Sanya doesn't know what to make of it.

This Neuroi does not look anything like any of the other previous Neuroi encountered before. It doesn't have its signature black with red hexagonal pattern all around its hide. Instead, it boasts a white-gray silver color with fiery-orange lights emanating from these open areas that add to its design. To be honest, Sanya finds its design quite interesting and _futuristic._ It isn't as big as she expected it to be—probably the size of a drone or a bit bigger than a jeep. Its body, however, looks _otherworldly._ The best Sanya can describe it comprise of two main parts: The circular-shape body with an elongated cockpit or nose attach to it. The circular body in back contains an orange-glowing, spherical core instead of the usual red, hexagonal shape. Sanya knows this because the core seems rather exposed than being completely covered. Saves her the time and energy to find it. Located underneath the very tip of the elongated body part houses its offensive weapon: twin turrets. It's secondary pair of turrets are located more toward the middle in between the body and the nose. However, the detail that catches Sanya's eye the most is that fact that its "wings" and secondary turrets aren't attached to the main body; they just float there and move along with it like there is an invisible force keeping it in position. Regardless of how this new type of Neuroi looks—from her bird's eye view, it looks rather triangular with the unattached wings—it is still an enemy, and it is Sanya's duty to take it down before it reaches the base.

The Neuroi quickly gains altitude as it turns its body straight upward and shooting out until it begins to level itself out at Sanya's elevation. It twin turrets located in the front begin firing the super-heated orange shards while the Neuroi advances forward. One of the things that benefits Sanya is that compared to the usual beam Neuroi fire, the shards don't travel as fast, giving the night which time to strafe to the left, the shards missing by a meter or two. However, Sanya isn't out of the woods yet as the two other turrets on its sides release four slow-moving projectiles. She can easily evade them, but the four projectiles account for its slow speed as they turn and chase Sanya like they have built-in homing system. She puts up her shield as the four projectiles slam and explode on her shield. The Neuroi continues to fly towards her at astonishing speed, and Sanya needs to make an attack. She quickly replaces her aim and fires a volley of three rockets all jettisoning toward the Neuroi. The Neuroi is moving too fast for it to move out of the way, practically sealing its fate. But this Neuroi has a few tricks up its sleeves. It an instant, the Neuroi glows bright orange as it evades to the right, leaving behind a visible light trail of orange light in the short distance it travels.

It is almost as if it teleported; a fleet considerable impossible for anybody in _this time_.

It keeps firing its weapons, and all Sanya can do is withstand. Every time she tries to move, the Neuroi shoots its tracking four-volley missiles, and the shards aren't doing her any favors as she had some near misses as she attempts to get away. Its agility, speed, and firing power are seriously hammering Sanya into a corner, and she is running out of options. She attempts to radio for help, hoping to call somebody, quite possibly Eila, but the Neuroi isn't about to let her call for help, always disrupting her concentration by shooting at her. Four more missiles hit her shield, but this time the force behind them causes her to lose her balance.

 _Somebody…_ her breathing intensifies. She is using too much magic. She needs a respite or a chance and fast.

A huge clink echoes, and the firing stops. Puzzled, Sanya looks at the Neuroi and sees it main turret glowing bright red, unable to shoot as steam is coming from them.

 _It overheated!_ She tells herself. She notices that there is a seven-second delay before the Neuroi can fire its missiles, and it has only been three seconds. Its main and secondary way of attack are momentarily down, but it still swarming around her like a hawk hunting down its prey. She takes aim once more, leading the Neuroi to maximize her chances to hit it. Her window is closing and fast. It is now or never.

She pulls the trigger, sending out a barrage of five rockets, but she takes too long as the Neuroi counters with its own 4-volley missile attack, which all four of the them colliding with Sanya's, leaving one free missile heading directly towards the Neuroi, but evades to the left, leaving a light trail behind. Sanya fires once again, but the Neuroi counters with its primary weapon, hitting the rocket 5 meters away from her. She does raise her shield to protect her from the explosion at the expense of her sight as the black explosion cloud engulfs her, forcing her to cough out the gunpowder-filled air from her lungs. Once it begins to clear, a most dreadful sight awaited her as she barely manages to raise her shield halfway as the Neuroi evades right into her shield, sending her spiraling and tumbling through the air. The Neuroi takes no mercy on her as a storm of super-heated shards rains down on Sanya, unable to gain balance as she continues to spiral around. Most of them miss, but some manage to impale themselves into both her Striker Units and her Fleigerhammer. One of her units begins to smoke black upon receiving multiple hits from the shards.

"Nnnggg!" She winces, finally gaining some balance as she looks down at her left arm. It takes a moment to register as the smell of scorched skin finally hits her nostrils. One of the shards just managed to graze her left arm. Her teeth gnash. _It stings_. It stings worse than anything she can imagine. Just moving her arms induces an excoriating amount of pain throughout her arm and entire body. It feels as if she is on fire. It doesn't help her much that she begins to grow nauseous due to the smell of burnt flesh wafting through the air. The smell alone is enough to upset her stomach, but she has a much bigger problem. She sluggishly turns to face her attacker, stricken with trepidation as the Neuroi hovers above her in such a way that it gives off some sort of majesty as the moonlight reflects off silver-colored skin, almost as if it is looking down on her with deep-seeded disgust and superiority. The secondary turrets adjust accordingly along with it primary turrets, all converging on the same target in front of the Neuroi. She can only watch as her body is too fear-stricken move herself out of the way.

"Someone…" she whispers to herself, a lone tear slowly streaming down her right eye. But there is no response. She is alone, and there is nothing she can do about that. She can't bear to look.

"Eila…."

What proceeds is the sound of gunfire shattering the silence, a clear indication that she is… will die.

...

Strange. Sanya didn't think dying would take this long… or this painless—except from the wound on her left arm. The sound of gunfire erupts again, but nothing happens to her. She decides to open one eye to peek out. Except for her left arm, her entire body is unharmed. She turns her attention to the Neuroi, witnessing a shower of bullets bombarding the left side of the Neuroi, forcing it to make a tactical retreat.

"SANYA!" A familiar and most-comforting voice echoes from her left, horror and distress imbedded in her scream. What follows next is an embrace by the only person that would come to Sanya's rescue in such a fashion.

"Eila…" Sanya whispers as Eila takes hold of her tightly.

"Sanya! Are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?" Eila inquires hastily, searching her body for anything that seems misplaced. Eila wants to make sure that not even a scratch is found on Sanya for she just cares too much about her. Needless to say, her worried expression soon morphs into something different upon Eila's eyes setting on Sanya's left arm. The abrupt sound of teeth grinding can be heard by Sanya. Her free hand takes the form of a fist, and her eyes are only home to agitation and relentlessness.

"AHHHH!" She lets out, startling Sanya. "HOW DARE YOU HURT SANYA **!** I am going to kill that Neuroi!" she unleashes more seething rage, her cheeks becoming flush with red and enmity as she sprays bullets at the Neuroi, more so to vent off the ever-building anger than to damage the Neuroi. Her shooting stops as a small force tugs on her shoulder

"Eila! Please." Sanya quietly states to her enraged friend, concerned. "You need to calm down!"

"Calm down?! How could I calm down!? You got hurt and… and…" Her seething, boiling fury only continues to build, only serving to scaring Sanya. However, Sanya soon reconciles as her blistering rage is converted into something else, all captured within the tears forming under her eyes. "It's _my_ fault! You got hurt because of me. Because I didn't go with you on patrol." She reveals, her expression contorted with rage, self-loathing, melancholy, and regret.

"Eila, this isn't your fault."

"But it is! I kept on drawing that same card over and over, and I did nothing but forget about it, and now, you… you… you got hurt because I of me!" She continues, looking anywhere but at Sanya for she can't see the one person she deeply cares injured, knowing that she is to blame.

"Please go back to the base. I can handle it from here." She decides, only giving Sanya the view of her back.

"Eila… I am not leaving you here." Sanya defies.

"Sanya, please. You need to go back and have Miyafuji…"

"Eila, I am staying here and helping you defeat this Neuroi." She speaks out louder.

"Sanya, Please…."

"No, Eila! I made up my mind and that is final." Sanya defies once more, her voice the loudest it has been this entire night.

"But Sanya…" Eila begins to break down again, tears flowing. "If you were to get hurt again or…" her breathing hardens. "I don't know what I would do with myself. My heart aches whenever I think about that possibility" Sanya furrows her eye brows. She is becoming quite tired of Eila's self-pity. There is only one way to snap Eila out of this mood.

"Sanya, please, don't argue with…" She is immediately cut off as Sanya wraps her one free arm—the grazed one—around Eila.

"Sanya…."

"As long as you are with me, I will be fine. Together, we stand a better chance at defeating the Neuroi. Please let me help you, Eila?" she requests, letting a lone tear drip down her chin, landing onto Eila's uniform. Sanya can not only feel Eila's body heat, but she can also hear her heart pounding away. While still embracing her, Sanya looks up, only to see a warm smile located on Eila with softened eyes.

"Okay." She answers. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

"Thank you, Eila." Eila lowers her head onto Sanya, embracing her for a few more seconds until she has to let her go in order to deal with the current situation at hand.

"What can you tell me about this Neuroi? It didn't look like any of the Neuroi we have previously encountered.?" Eila inquires.

"Not only does it look different, but it also has different weaponry." Sanya explains. "Instead of its beam, this Neuroi fires super-heated shards along with some sort of four-volley, tracking missiles. It can also evade super quickly in any direction." She adds.

"I see. So, I guess this is what the cards were trying to tell me: A completely different Neuroi than anything we have ever seen." Eila confirms with herself. "Where do you think the core is?"

"I should be in the very back. This Neuroi's core is quite exposed. You should be able to see if you get closer to it. Plus, while the Neuroi was over me, I saw its underbelly is dangerously exposed." Sanya explains. "So if you can shoot there, then we can destroy it much faster, but… this Neuroi is fast, faster than anything I have ever seen, and its agile and strong."

"I should have expected it to me fast. After all, it does look like some sort of fighter. Probably not a conventional fighter, but still a fighter." Eila reloads her gun. "Okay, here's what we'll do…" Before she can explain her plan, Eila puts up her shield as shards bombard it from the South. "Looks like someone decided to show itself, huh." Eila comments as the silver Neuroi reappears from the clouds. Her grip around her weapon tightens, her eyes glaring daggers at the Neuroi. "Alright, come and get some." In an instant, Eila accelerates forward, engaging the Neuroi in an aerial battle. All the while, Sanya stays a considerable distance from the fray, trying to pick the right time to shoot, but with those two flying around each other, she doesn't anticipate hitting the Neuroi anytime soon.

"That was close!" comments Eila after barely dodging incoming shards by diving straight down, giving the Neuroi the advantage as it gives chase, firing its four-volley tracking missiles. Due to Eila's ability, she foresees that dodging this attack will only prove fruitless, so she turns around and shoots at the missiles while still diving. She destroys them, only to come under fire. However, it cuts its attack short as it evades to backwards, leaving its orange glowing trail as a missile goes through where it previously was, exploding in the distance and dispersing the clouds. Eila looks, and sees Sanya breathing heavily with a strained expression. _It hurts to move her arm._ Eila concludes, and she doesn't think the Neuroi is too happy with her attack for it attention redirects toward Sanya. "Oh no you don't!" Putting forth immense amount of magic energy, Her Striker Unit screeches as she rockets herself towards the Neuroi, slowly closing the altitude between them. Sanya aims once more, but hesitates for she could endanger Sanya if she misses, or if she hits the Neuroi and Eila is caught in the explosion. "Sanya!" Eila hollers, but soon is overshadowed by the sound of four missiles rocketing towards Sanya. A shield is raised, but soon disappears in the cover of an explosion, leaving no sight of the Orussian night witch.

"AHHHHH!" She unleashes her fury in a wail. She doesn't care anymore if this Neuroi will be the last she encounters, all that matters is that she takes it down, or she takes it down with her. She puts every bit of magic in her Striker Unit, desperately endeavoring to gain as much speed to match the Neuroi's altitude. "Come on! Faster, damn it!" Her breathing intensifies, her sight becoming a bit blurry, but she doesn't care. It hurt Sanya, and now it is going to pay with its life. Persevering through the exhaustion and forcing out as much magic as she could, Eila manages to reach the same altitude as the Neuroi. She raises her gun and wastes no time in unloading her ammunition into the Neuroi. The Neuroi is caught off guard by how resilient Eila manages to reach it and boost to the right, but Eila is will not let up on it and makes a hard right, combating through the G forces in such a sudden move and lays fire one more. Bullets keep smashing into the Neuroi's armor, delivering massive amounts of damage to the point where its armor is beginning to deteriorate. Normally, this takes form in the shape of glass shards, but this Neuroi's armor is instead eroding—in Eila's mind, the parts that are eroding look more like its disintegrating. It attempts to but out, but Eila will not give on her relentless assault. However, she ultimately does by the sound of clicks coming from her gun. _Damn it!_ The Neuroi waste no time in utilizing this advantage to counter attack. It has sustained heavy damage. Parts of the Neuroi are disintegrating away and its wings look critically damaged, but it still has enough fight to defeat the hot-headed witch. All weapons converge on Eila, and she responds with a shield in between her and the Neuroi. Missiles and super-heated shards fire, slamming into her shield. Evading is not an option for she consumed too much magic energy and is barely float. _If only I hadn't wasted most it during those maneuvers, then Sanya…_ Her thinking is cut short as a lone rocket flies down from above and striking the Neuroi right in the main body, engulfing it in a fiery explosion. She keeps her stare on it until something falls from beneath. It is the Neuroi, but instead of it shattering into millions of glass shards, it body instead starts to disintegrate until there is nothing left. Eila looks upwards, and witnesses Sanya aiming her Fliegerhammer at towards the direction of the Neuroi, breathing heavily. Her eyelids begin to weaken along with her stance.

"Sanya!" Eila hollers, mustering whatever magic energy she could to rush to Sanya's side, taking a hold of her so she does plummet down to the earth. "Are you okay."

"I think so…. I'm just… tired is all."

"Sanya!" Eila embraces tightly. "You idiot! Don't scary me like that. I thought I lost you." She confesses, tears streaming down her redden cheeks Please don't do anything like that again. My heart can't take it. "Promise me you won't do something like that again?" Eila begs, hugging her tighter than before.

"I am sorry for deceiving you, but I needed the Neuroi to think I was dead so it could ignore me long enough for me to strike." she answers. Eila keeps her embrace on her, taking as much time as she needs to let the Orussian witch know just how important she is to her. "Umm, Eila. You're kind of… squeezing too hard."

"No. I am never letting you go again." Eila retorts.

"But Eila, we have to return to base. I am still injured, you know."

"… Fine, but I'm going to keep hugging until we get there." Eila bargains. Sanya isn't going to argue with her, and the two witches make their way back towards the base.

* * *

"Sanya, Eila, are you sure about this report?" Minna, the wing commander of the 501 JFW, ask her subordinates.

"Yes, we saw it with our own eyes. This Neuroi didn't look like a regular Neuroi. It had a different color and design scheme and fired different weapons." Eila states with Sanya only nodding when Minna turns towards her for confirmation.

"I see. Thank you for taking the time for meeting with me. I know you two must be tired, so why don't you two go rest up for now." Minna advocates with a smile before Eila and Sanya leave her office, leaving her and Major Sakamoto alone.

"What do you think, Mio."

"It seems the Neuroi still have a few tricks up their sleeves after all these years." Mio comments, standing by the window and looking out at the morning sun.

"It would appear so. It seems the enemy always knows just how to keep us on our toes. It might be safe if we send both Sanya and Eila for night patrols. This Neuroi almost got them, and we are supposed to be the 501st, the last line of defense for Britannia." Minna shares, a dishearten expression replacing her usual demeanor upon thinking about if she lost two of her witches.

"Yeah, but there is still something that is bothering me." Mio brings up. "Sanya reported that there were originally two Neuroi, and one of them just suddenly disappeared. She thinks that the Neuroi she encountered might have destroyed it."

"You think this warrants for some sort of in-fighting within the Neuroi's ranks?" Minna concludes.

"I don't know, but we do know the Neuroi are still as enigmatic as before."

"I agree with you there, Mio. But enough speculation. I have to file this report to command." Minna shares, the major giving a nod before exiting Minna's office.

* * *

" _Captain, One of our recon pilots has been destroyed. It seems the night patrol female the Recon unit has targeted received reinforcements from one of her allies at the base. What are your orders?_

" _Hmmm… Leave it for now, soldier. There is no need for us to involve ourselves just yet. Allow them to continue their war with the Neuroi. When the time is right, we will strike back at the humans."_ A commanding voice answers.

" _Captain Hestro."_ Another subordinate calls out. _"Commander Lochagos is requesting your presence."_

" _Very well, inform the Knight I am on my way. Also, Inform Commanders Rive, Sever, Animus, and Malice about the loss of a recon unit. They will know what do to next."_

" _Sir."_ The second soldier leaves, leaving Captain Hestro alone in the room.

" _These war-mongering Reclaimers are more capable than initially perceived. Maybe it would be to our advantage to send in the Harbingers to eradicate such an elite team, even if they are considered younglings."_ He laments, but shakes his head afterwards. " _No. Not yet. A time will come when we will strike."_ He concludes, bring up mug shots of all of the 501st members on the screen with Captain Hestro looking peculiarly at the commanding officer of such a group of elite witches, Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke.


End file.
